Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard started at centre-forward for Belgium on Friday, but a draw with North Macedonia ramps up the pressure on their final games.
Belgium have been on a strong recent run of major tournament appearances, playing in three consecutive World Cups and three consecutive European Championships.
More than that, the team have been competitive at those tournaments, only exiting at the group stage on one of six occasions. Yet they’re in a bit of a scrap to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in North America.
North Macedonia and Wales are both pushing Belgium for a top-two finish, and Rudi Garcia’s side wasted a chance to leave one of the two behind yesterday night.
Belgium were playing at home to North Macedonia on Friday, and Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard started as a striker for the side.
The hosts dominated the chances, with Trossard heading over in the first half and creating an opportunity for Kevin de Bruyne in the second. But despite having 25 shots to North Macedonia’s three, the match finished 0-0.
As a result, North Macedonia remain top of the group, having played a game more than the two teams below them. Belgium play Wales next, so only one of the two can use that game in hand to leapfrog the current leaders.
Should Wales win that game, Belgium would drop to third, and they’d need to win their final two games just to guarantee finishing in the top two. As a reminder, only top spot qualifies your team for the final tournament, with second place earning you a play-off.
So if Belgium want to keep automatic qualification in their own hands, they can’t afford a bad result away to Wales on Monday.